a long conversation, the
gist of which was this: That they had bought the place, that except
for fifteen minutes at midnight, the place was ideal. They were both
level-headed, neither believed in anything super-natural. Were they to
be driven out of such a place by so harmless a thing as an
unexplained noise? They could get used to it. After a bit it would no
more wake them up,--such was the force of habit--than the ticking of
the clock. To all this they both agreed, and the matter was dropped.

For ten days they did not mention it, but in all those ten days a sort
of crescendo of emotion was going on in her. At first she began to
think of it as soon as bed-time approached; then she felt it intruding
on her thoughts at the dinner table; then she was unable to sleep for
an hour or two after the fifteen minutes had passed, and, finally, one
night, she fled into his room to find him wide awake, just before
dawn, and to confess that the shadow of midnight was stretched before
and after until it was almost a black circle round the twenty-four
hours.

She knew it was absurd. She had no intention of being driven out of
such a lovely place--BUT--

"See here, dear," he said. "Let's break our rule. We neither of us
want company, but let's, at least, have a big week ender, and perhaps
we can prove to ourselves that our nerves are wrong. One thing is
sure, if you are going to get pale over it, I'll burn the blooming
house down before we'll live in it."

"But you mind it yourself?"

"Not a bit!"

"But you are awake."

"Of course I am, because I know that you are."

"Do you mean to say that if I slept you wouldn't notice it?"

"On my honor--I should not."

"You are a comfort," she ejaculated. "I shall go right to sleep." And
off she went, and did go to sleep.

All the same, in the morning, he insisted on the house-party.

"Let me see our list," he said. "Let us have no students of occult; no
men who dabble in laboratory spiritualism; just nice, live, healthy
people who never heard of such things--if possible. You can find
them."

"You see, dear," she explained, "it would not trouble me if I heard it
and you did not--but--"

"Oh, fudge!" he laughed. "Just now I should be sure to hear anything
you did, I suppose."

"You old darling," she replied, "then I don't care for it a bit."

"All the same we'll have the house-party."

So the following Saturday every room in the house was occupied.

At midnight they were a